Why do doctors use MRI?
MRI is useful for imaging soft tissues such as the brain because it shows great detail. It can detect minute differences, even between areas that are similar (unlike CAT scans, which are useful in imaging bone and soft tissue, but with less detail). MRI can often demonstrate brain abnormalities which are too small or located in regions of the brain that cannot be seen well by CAT scans. Another benefit of MRI is that it can be performed without x-rays or dyes (although many times, an intravenous dye called gadolinium is used to image the brain and its blood vessels). Brain MRI is commonly used to detect and diagnose many kinds of abnormalities of the skull, brain, and spinal cord. In addition to stroke, MRI is used to diagnose abnormal growths such as tumors, blood vessel abnormalities, infections, or disorders such as multiple sclerosis.MRI can provide direct views of the body from almost any direction, while CAT scans only provide images in an axial orientation. Medical images taken
